Swissmem President at SEF 2024: “Industry is not a bunch of whiners”
Published: Thursday, Jun 6th 2024, 16:40
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These are not easy times for Swiss industry. In the first quarter of the year, sales and orders continued to fall after an already poor previous year. Nevertheless, industry representatives are confident, as Swissmem President Martin Hirzel said in an interview with AWP Video at the Swiss Economic Forum (SEF).
"Swiss industry is not complaining, on the contrary," he said on Thursday. The industry is used to cyclical business and remains confident. "We currently have a few positive signs that we might be able to bottom out of this downturn this year," he explained.
Such positive impetus is coming from non-European markets, for example. "Business was slightly less poor than in recent months". There are also good signs in Europe. "We are even hearing a few positive voices in crisis-ridden Germany," says Hirzel.
There are already many sub-sectors in which things are going well. "I'm thinking of the suppliers to the aircraft manufacturing industry. A lot is also being invested in the energy sector. Business is going well there," said Hirzel. Business is currently looking less rosy in classic mechanical engineering, i.e. toolmaking, textile and graphic machinery. "These are classic capital goods, and there is less demand for them in times of geopolitical uncertainty."
KI als grosse Chance
According to Hirzel, the tech industry is "enthusiastic" about artificial intelligence. Swissmem believes that AI can bring added value to the tech industry.
"But to be honest, when I ask where the areas of application are or what we can make money with, there are still a lot of unanswered questions," says Hirzel. Only a few companies have an explicit AI strategy.
The video interview with Swissmem President Martin Hirzel can be found at the following link: https://youtu.be/kiNzPhWt9Pk
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